Local innovation takes center stage with an exciting collaboration between Freiburg-based AI startup Black Forest Labs and BurdaVerlag, which is based in nearby Offenburg. Black Forest Labs has gained widespread attenti…
The journalists of tomorrow are bursting with entrepreneurial spirit: students at the Burda School of Journalism spend their two-year training not only acquiring journalistic expertise, but also developing creative, forward-thinking digital projects with a view to monetisation.
Many of these brands are so promising that they can be acquired by one of the profit centres when the trainees leave the school. Until then, this year’s cohort will use the upcoming training block in March and April to work on their brands some more. Today, the founders of “stylefairliebt” (love fair style) provide a glimpse into their work.
Around 8 percent of global CO₂ consumption can be attributed to the clothing and footwear industry, more than aviation and shipping combined. According to the New Standard Institute, 20 percent of industrial water pollution is caused by textile dying and treatment. And in the EU, it is understood that unwanted clothing produces 1.5 to 2 million tons of waste due to the fast fashion industry.* How do these facts make you feel? Probably the same as us: we were left shocked, concerned and with a lot to think about.
Should we stop buying clothes immediately? That would certainly be one solution – but to be perfectly honest, we’d feel pretty sad. We love fashion. We love browsing shops and hunting for a new favourite piece. We love playing with colours, patterns and materials. We love using our outfits to emphasise our personality. To show who we are.
We are Cathrin, Elisa, Tim, Nicole and Leonie, trainees in the BJS 2020/2022 cohort – and many young people feel the same.
So how can we strike a balance between sustainable consumption and fun with fashion? After asking ourselves this question in summer 2021, we founded “stylefairliebt”, our media brand. Our mission? To show young people, particularly women, how stylish, simple and reasonably priced green fashion and sustainable fashion consumption can be. Our research has shown that fashion fans are increasingly distancing themselves from the fast fashion industry. They are looking for inspiration, helpful tips and a guide to better ways of integrating sustainable fashion into their everyday lives – as easily as possible and without constantly spending loads of money.
On our Instagram page, we present simple styling hacks and combinations in short video sequences. We also introduce fair and local brands, reveal our insider tips for shopping vintage the right way, and explain when it really pays off to invest in a piece of clothing. We also conduct fascinating interviews with people who inspire us through their content and their lifestyle and product concepts. For example, our channel has featured DIY queen Jelena Weber (57k) and the expert minimalists at Everless (25k).
Since setting up the brand almost four months ago, we have gained over 1,000 followers and that number continues to grow. Chatting with our community, we can tell that this topic resonates with a lot of people. Now we need to find targeted ways to build the brand. We have set aside time for this in the next training block at the Burda School of Journalism, which begins in March.
So why write this article now? Well, we wanted to give you a little taster of our final project. We are convinced that stylefairliebt is a great fit for Burda’s brand world and has already carved out a niche for itself through interviews, social media posts that we have produced and discussions on conscious fashion consumption. We even featured in issue 50 of Lisa in December 2021.
By Nicole Steinbrecht and Leonie Müller
*See “Fashion Changers. Wie wir mit fairer Mode die Welt verändern können” by Jana Braumüller, Vreni Jäckle and Nina Lorenzen (Knesebeck)
